


Not Quite A Demon

by WiggityFresh



Category: Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:35:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24843148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WiggityFresh/pseuds/WiggityFresh
Summary: Pixie finds the Demi-Fiend strange.
Relationships: Hitoshura | The Demifiend & Pixie
Comments: 6
Kudos: 68





	1. Strange

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never really done character study stuff before, but I've been thinking about Nocturne a lot lately and decided to do a few short things.

Pixie didn’t… get the Demi-Fiend.

She knew that was an odd thing to think, especially after they had spent so much time together, but he was odd in so many ways. So many strange ‘quirks’, things that didn’t make sense for a demon, and didn’t seem to make much sense for a human either. 

Like the way he talked with those other humans that ended up in the Vortex World. The Demi-Fiend never talked much (probably one of his better traits, as far as his demons were concerned), but it seemed… different then. The way that the other humans would talk over him. Boss him around despite the fact he was so much stronger. And he would just… take it. Look at them with a sad look in his eyes as everything he said either got brushed off or ignored entirely. 

She didn’t approve. Demons were only supposed to listen to people stronger than them- that was the rule. Any demon that listened to weaklings would end up dead, after all. And the last thing she wanted to do was die alongside the Demi-Fiend for a stupid reason.

She had decided to confront him about it one day once they reached a Terminal Room to rest for a bit. It was supposed to be a serious conversation. A moment of truth. 

_Why do you let Chalky talk to you like that?_ She had asked.

The Demi-Fiend had been quiet for what seemed like a long time, before his brow furrowed, as if just registering what she had asked. His sharp, yellow eyes slowly glanced over at her. “...What did you call her?”

 _Chalky!_ She had repeated, confident at first, before suddenly getting the feeling that she messed something up. There was a long moment of silence as the Demi-Fiend stared at her for a moment, before suddenly bearing his teeth at her, his shoulders shaking up and down as a weird sound rumbled from his throat. She was confused for a moment, before realizing that he was laughing. She had never seen him laugh before. It… was nice.

“Chiaki.” He had repeated, carefully, before his rare smile faded. His eyes turned sad, and the tattoos that crossed his body seemed to become less faint. This always happened when he thought about the girl human and the rude, short human with the hat. “...That’s just how things are now.” He had responded, as if that was an actual answer. She opened her mouth to ask further, before he shot her an actual dangerous look, and she remembered that the Demi-Fiend was much, much stronger than her. 

Demons were only supposed to listen to people stronger than them, after all.


	2. Soft

The Demi-Fiend was too soft to be a demon.

She had remembered the first time she had gotten poisoned, which wasn’t that big of a deal. Either she whittled away and died, or she managed to shake it off. Poison wasn’t exactly weird in the Vortex World, and some demons considered it a rite of passage to either live or die from it.

The Demi-Fiend wasn’t one of those demons. He had scooped her up- despite her wings working fine, as he rummaged through his things like something scary was happening. He kept mumbling things like ‘hang on’ and that ‘she would be okay’, despite the fact that he didn’t know that for sure, and it was just poison. She winced as the ailment continued to eat away at her, as she turned her head to spit out the sticky, purple toxin. 

The next thing she remembered, the ailment slowly began to fade from her body as he sprinkled her with a cure, a relieved look on his face as he (finally) set her down. He had sighed in relief, sitting down.

“I’m glad you’re okay.” He had said. 

_Okay…?_ She had replied. She didn’t really get it. As much as the humans and Manikins loved their ‘items’, it seemed cowardly for a demon to use anything like that. 

_Why didn’t you let me die? If I had, then it just would have proved I wasn’t strong enough._ She had asked, shortly after. His expression was pretty funny. Shocked and wild like he didn’t know how simple the question was. After all, they were demons. Getting bailed out of something so basic was almost insulting. She hoped he didn’t coddle all of his demons like that. There was no way they were going to survive if he kept on stressing about unimportant things like health.

He had given her a weird look, before leaning back. The Demi-Fiend had been more ‘human’ then, letting his guard down too often and trying to find ways to be comfortable instead of trying to survive. The Demi-Fiend had shrugged, clicking his tongue. 

“That doesn’t make much sense. We’re a team, after all.” He had told her. She had been quiet for a moment, thinking. She had thought of her and the other demons like followers or minions- that was the way things were. Weak demons followed the stronger demons, and hoped for a chance to become stronger that would never come. But, she had realized things were different with him. The way that they wandered the Vortex World together, the way that she and the other demons grew stronger alongside him, the way that he would negotiate with demons no matter what their alignment was. 

It didn’t make sense. For a demon to be so willing to gather so many different races. For a human to so openly try and converse with demons. She had taught him negotiation as a way to survive, but the Demi-Fiend had practically made it his way of life.

It was weird. But… she had joined him because she thought he was special to begin with. 

Maybe she had made the right choice after all.


	3. Smile

She had tried to get him to do the smile thing again. 

She waited until he fell asleep. Sleep didn’t happen often, and it was never comfortable when it did. The Demi-Fiend would find some cold, dark place where demons couldn’t find him easily, and then curl up and try to make himself small. For what seemed like an eternity the Demi-Fiend would stare forward, blankly, practically daring someone to attack, before slowly closing his eyes. 

The Demi-Fiend snored. She thought it was a defensive mechanism to scare away any weak demons, but when she had mentioned it one morning his cheeks had turned pink, and he suddenly found a _very_ interesting crack in the wall in one of the many, many cracked buildings. He had also mumbled about weird things in his sleep. Like ‘ex-zams’ and ‘tako-yah-keys’. She never asked about those things though. They seemed personal.

Nonetheless, she had waited for him to fall asleep, before creeping closer. She had pinched the edge of his lips, tugging them up, and then to the side, and them up again, but no matter how hard she tried it was impossible to get him to do the smile he did before. It didn’t make sense, but humans were already weird to begin with. Bags of flesh that just walked around until they died. They were kind of gross, the more she thought about it.

Eventually, he noticed her messing with his mouth, as his tattoos shone red, and his eyes glared at her with a very apparent sense of irritation. One big hand slowly pushed her away from his face as he sat up, yawning.

“Pixie…” He had mumbled. That was usually all he had to say for her to know she had done something wrong. 

_Do that thing again!_ She had asked, in the most polite way possible. He looked at her for a moment, before slowly laying back down and closing his eyes. She had shaken him, annoyed. _The thing with your mouth! The smile thing!_

He seemed unimpressed, before sighing. “People only smile when they’re happy…” He had muttered. 

_Can you be happy?_ She asked, crossing her legs as she looked at him. 

He didn’t respond, slowly turning his back to her before staying like that for another hour before getting up and continuing. The Demi-Fiend didn’t seem to snore this time though.


	4. Satisfied

She had tried to ask him about his human life before.

It wasn’t like she cared much about the world before the Conception, but it did bother her how little he spoke about it. Every single time he either had nothing to say, or very brief statements that didn’t seem to connect any dots in the slightest. His interactions with the other young humans were awkward and tense. His interactions with the older humans were cold and formal. 

_I’m glad you’re not like them._ She had exclaimed at one point. _At this point, you’re barely human at all!_

When he heard that, his shoulders tensed and he didn’t respond. Despite the fact that she knew that humans were supposed to say ‘thank you’ in response to compliments. 

The Demi-Fiend was weird around his reflection too. At some points he would just stare at his reflection with tired eyes that slowly traced up and down the markings on his body. Opening his mouth and running his finger across his teeth, mumbling small comments about his teeth getting sharper, or his nails getting longer, or the yellow glow of his eyes becoming brighter. Other moments he was absolutely averse to even peeking at himself.

Usually after talking to another human. As if there was some shame in what he looked like.

She had tried to compliment him more when he was in this mood. Letting him know how powerful he looked, or the kind of dangerous aura he gave off, or how cool it looked as the blood of demons clung to his clothes. But eventually she had stopped, because no matter how much she tried to compliment him, each time would only make him more tense, and the already quiet journey through the Vortex World more awkward.

That’s why she had started to try and talk to him about more boring human stuff. The buildings that he was familiar with. Like ‘Geen-zah’ or ‘Sheen-juuh-kuu’. Ask about what they were like before the demons. 

The Demi-Fiend never had much to say, but every so often he’d offer something. Some vague memory. Sometimes loud enough for her to hear, sometimes in a voice too quiet for even the most sensitive demons. 

And sometimes, he’d just give her the faintest glimpse of a smile, and she’d be satisfied.


End file.
